Chapter 172: Self-Operated Cafeteria, Sister Chengzi c2 and Sister Chengzi d1 Designs Completed

At noon, Wang Zihao sent a message, asking Chen Yansen to go to the company cafeteria for lunch.

Half a month ago, at Chen Yansen's instruction, Xu Xingxing found the park manager and rented half of the cafeteria.

Sister Chengzi Tech is a major taxpayer in Xucheng, and willing to spend money, so when applying for fire safety, environmental, health, and food permits, it naturally got the green light all the way.

Three days ago, the employees of Pinbi and Sister Chengzi Tech were already eating meals from their own cafeteria.

The chefs were poached from hotels—3 chefs for breakfast, 6 chefs for lunch and dinner, plus 8 kitchen assistants, 7 serving staff, 3 cleaners, 2 purchasing staff, and 1 cafeteria manager.

A total of 30 people, all signed labor contracts with Sister Chengzi Tech.

They enjoy a 20% rent subsidy on their monthly salary, overtime pay issued according to labor law, contributions to the five social insurances and one housing fund plus commercial medical insurance, as well as holiday red envelopes, travel funds, meal allowances, and other benefits.

A salary 20% above market rate and a complete benefits system made the three cleaning aunties wish they could mop the cafeteria floor a dozen times a day to feel worthy of the pay.

Chen Yansen and Wang Zihao walked into the cafeteria—the left side was cold and empty, the right side had a long queue.

It was easy to see that the left side was the park's self-operated cafeteria, and basically no one wanted to eat there.

"Boss!"

"Brother Hao!"

The queuing employees greeted them one after another!

Chen Yansen nodded slightly, picked up a tray, and lined up behind everyone.

"Boss, why don't you go first?" the young man in front suggested with a smile.

"No need. I remember you're from Jin Ling—are you used to the cafeteria food?"

Chen Yansen waved his hand and asked with a smile.

"Boss, you remember me?" Chi Kai widened his eyes, his face full of disbelief.

Although he was in charge of the food category operations at Pinbi, he had only met Chen Yansen once on his first day and hadn't even spoken to him.

Category operators like him—there were more than 20 others at Pinbi.

So when Chi Kai discovered that Chen Yansen could remember him, even remembering where he was from, he was immediately surprised.

"As a boss, remembering employees' names is only right, isn't it. Work hard. I heard that at Store No. 1, you made the food category number one in the whole company—I hope you can do the same at Pinbi."

Chen Yansen patted Chi Kai on the shoulder and encouraged him with a smile.

"Got it, boss, I'll definitely work hard." Chi Kai said with a wide grin.

Chen Yansen smiled and said nothing more.

His impression of Chi Kai was deep—not because of the other's outstanding performance, but because when Xiong Li did the background check, he found that when Chi Kai left Store No. 1, it wasn't exactly glorious.

Simply put, he had taken money from merchants and been caught.

But he had wide connections and good relationships with the boss, so in the end he was protected and given a decent way out: voluntarily resigning.

Of course, this was only the background check result. After Xiong Li brought this up during the second interview, Chi Kai claimed he had taken the fall for his boss and had not actually taken kickbacks.

Facing such a controversial candidate, most would give up.

But Xiong Li considered Chi Kai's business ability outstanding, so he reported it to Chen Yansen.

Chen Yansen glanced at the resume and decided to hire Chi Kai.

A person with greed for money will work harder and more cleverly than ordinary people.

Besides, the package Pinbi offered Chi Kai was nearly double his income at Store No. 1.

If Chi Kai really dared to take money on the side, Chen Yansen had ways to deal with him.

Then he'd use him as a target to take down, and along the way warn the other category operators and business recruitment staff—consider it putting waste to use.

As Chen Yansen had expected, within days of joining the company, Chi Kai brought in over 30 A-tier brands and over 100 B-tier brands; his resources and negotiation skills were second to none.

"Going back to Chunshen for New Year's?" Wang Zihao suddenly asked.

"Not going. If you go back, pass my regards to Uncle Wang. By the way, Jiushen Wang sent me two bottles of aged Maotai before—help me bring them to Uncle Wang when you go."

Chen Yansen said casually.

"That's not appropriate, is it? Better keep them for Uncle Chen." Wang Zihao shook his head and declined.

"It's fine. The wine meant for Old Chen—I already sent it back last time."

Chen Yansen said with a smile.

"Senior, you're here to eat too?"

At that moment, a crisp, playful voice came from behind.

Chen Yansen turned and saw it was Ge Hui, who had stopped him at the entrance of the startup park last time, holding a Sister Chengzi phone, asking for his autograph.

Beside Ge Hui was Jiang Ruoxuan, who politely greeted, "Hello, boss."

"Is she a new hire in your department?"

Chen Yansen ignored Ge Hui and asked, looking at Jiang Ruoxuan.

"Ge Hui is a part-timer in the customer service department, but she's also a freshman majoring in Visual Communication Design—our and Song Yuncheng's junior."

Jiang Ruoxuan explained.

"Oh." Chen Yansen's tone was flat.

Perhaps because of his high Spirit stat, he could easily detect Ge Hui's little tricks.

Ge Hui wanted to get close to him; though she hid it well, he saw through her at a glance.

Once Ge Hui and Jiang Ruoxuan had walked away, Wang Zihao asked curiously, "This junior is so tiny, looks like a little doll."

"Small in size, but plenty of scheming. Stop looking—that girl's waters run deep, you can't handle her."

Chen Yansen reminded him in a low voice.

"Brother Sen, you don't know me yet—I've always preferred the big ones." Wang Zihao grinned.

"Good then." Chen Yansen replied.

Under his mentorship, Wang Zihao's work ability had improved by leaps and bounds, but when it came to women, he was still a blank slate.

"I'm tired of driving my 750, and it's just gathering dust in the garage. Interested?"

Chen Yansen thought for a moment, then asked.

"Brother Sen, that car is over two million yuan. If it gets scratched or scuffed, it'd really hurt." Wang Zihao's eyes lit up—he was clearly tempted, but also a bit embarrassed.

Over the past year, following Chen Yansen had earned him plenty: option compensation, salary, and bonuses, guaranteed over two million yuan.

"Enough chatter. This afternoon I'll have Xu Xingxing bring you the keys."

Chen Yansen did this on purpose.

No one knew better than he did—driving a car worth over two million around campus and the city center, you could see just how forward the girls would get.

"Thanks, godfather." Wang Zihao knew when to play along.

The cafeteria had seven serving windows in total; the two chatted for only a few minutes before reaching the front of the line.

Chen Yansen's gaze swept from left to right—chicken, duck, fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, drinks, desserts, ramen, wontons, everything was available. No wonder they'd hired thirty people.

With fewer hands, they really couldn't keep up.

The dishes were all served on small plates, similar to the community cafeterias in Shanghai—steaming hot, fragrant on every side.

"One serving of mouth-watering chicken, chopped chili fish head, steamed egg, greens, a bowl of rice, and a bowl of soup."

Chen Yansen said to the serving staff.

Wang Zihao ordered three dishes and a soup, carried his tray to the card reader, and with a beep, it only cost 7.8 yuan.

Chen Yansen's portion was 9.4 yuan—safe to say, the price was purely at cost.

The company gave 500 yuan in monthly meal subsidies—more than enough.

The cafeteria was company-operated anyway; it wasn't meant to turn a profit, only to let employees eat and drink well.

Chen Yansen and Wang Zihao had just sat down with their trays and taken two bites when Meng Jie came over.

The surrounding mid-level managers from Pinbei and Sister Chengzi Tech looked on with envy—they wanted to come over too, but without the boss's invitation, they didn't dare act rashly.

The three chatted as they ate. Meng Jie suddenly said: "Teacher Zhang is getting married on New Year's Day and invited me to be a bridesmaid. Are you two going back?"

"Teacher Zhang is getting married? Who's the groom?"

Wang Zihao asked curiously, sneaking a glance at Chen Yansen—after all, Chen Yansen had once said he wanted Zhang Li to be his stepmother.

"Our old history teacher, the tall, thin one."

Meng Jie gestured with her hands, laughing as she answered.

"Sigh! Old Chen just doesn't try hard enough! Teacher Zhang's curves are amazing, and he didn't even appreciate her. Now there's no chance at all."

Chen Yansen sighed, wearing an expression of frustrated disappointment.

"Brother Sen, Meng Jun's mom is still single." Wang Zihao raised his eyebrows and winked, teasing with a grin.

"Huh?! Chen Yansen, how can you be so outrageous—actually trying to set Teacher Zhang up with Uncle Chen?"

Meng Jie was torn between laughter and tears, grabbing Chen Yansen's arm and giggling nonstop.

This scene happened to be seen by Song Yuncheng, who had just walked into the cafeteria. She forced a smile, but her heart still ached.

In terms of status, Meng Jie had always been Chen Yansen's official girlfriend.

While she herself was the one who couldn't see the light of day.

Chen Yansen's senses were extremely sharp. He raised his head, his gaze cutting through the layers of people, and instantly met Song Yuncheng's eyes.

He raised his thumb and tapped his lips.

Seeing this, Song Yuncheng's cheeks flushed red. She couldn't help but laugh, and cursed in her heart: scumbag.

"So, are you two going back or not? Teacher Zhang specifically asked me to ask." Seeing them laughing and not giving a straight answer, Meng Jie emphasized again.

"Big Sis, I'm definitely going back." Wang Zihao replied with a smile.

"Sister Chengzi Tech's Tech new products R&D is at a critical stage—I can't get away for now."

Chen Yansen casually made up an excuse.

When an adult doesn't want to attend a social event, there's only one reason: they feel it's not worth it.

Meng Jie was slightly disappointed, but said nothing.

After the three finished lunch, Chen Yansen returned to his office, called Xu Xingxing over, then handed her the BMW 750 keys and asked her to pass them to Wang Zihao.

With nothing to do in the afternoon, Chen Yansen went to Sister Chengzi Tech's R&D department for a look around.

The hardware design for Chengzi C2 and Chengzi D1 was already complete.

The Shencheng phone factory planned to produce 500 engineering units of each—for testing on one hand, and to release them on the market to gather user feedback on the other.

The Chengzi C2 is the flagship model, equipped with a Snapdragon MSM8260 dual-core processor, a 4.7-inch AMOLED screen, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage, supporting 1080p full HD video playback and recording, a 16-megapixel rear camera and a 5-megapixel front camera.

The system uses AuroraOS 1.3, optimized based on Android 4.0, with a 2620 mAh battery supporting fast charging.

The Chengzi D1 is positioned as a thousand-yuan phone, with a MediaTek MT6573 processor, a 4.0-inch TFT screen, 512MB of RAM and 8GB of storage, a 5-megapixel rear camera, a 0.3-megapixel front camera, and an 1800 mAh battery.

As for pricing, Chen Yansen hadn't made a final decision yet.

With the successive launches of the iPhone 4S, Meizu MX, and Huawei U8860, Chengzi C1's sales were bound to take a hit.

A phone, in the fiercely competitive year of 2011, typically had a life cycle of only 8 to 12 months.

And Chengzi C1 had already been on sale for four months, leaving at most another 4 to 5 months of golden sales period.

Chen Yansen spent only a little over an hour at the tech park in the afternoon before driving back to Xu Yuan.

(End of chapter)